


Drunken Lament

by pakunoduh



Category: The Glass Scientists (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-24 01:51:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12002433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pakunoduh/pseuds/pakunoduh
Summary: After some goading, Hyde convince Lanyon to go drinking with him. Mistakes were made indeed





	Drunken Lament

To an ordinary citizen of London, that night at the Society would have proven to be peculiar on its own. Men could be heard shouting at invisible rats scurrying down the hallways while smoke billowed from beneath closed doors with delayed “... I’m okay…”s following the smog into the corridors. But, what had made it especially bizarre for Dr. Robert Lanyon was the careless “Come out with me.” that came from one Mr. Edward Hyde that set the doctor’s eyebrows into a furrow.

“I beg your pardon?” he asked at the offer.

Robert had been making an effort to know Mr. Hyde for the sake of his dear friend Henry Jekyll. His friend seemed to have a strange attachment to the odd man. The blond was as frequent a sight in Henry’s office as Henry himself was when he dropped into the Society during the evenings. He’d never gotten an answer as to why Mr. Hyde was allowed so freely among Dr. Jekyll’s things, but Lanyon had given up asking at this point.

Today he had found the smaller man draped in the Doctor’s desk chair, legs haphazardly kicking in the air over one arm of the chair while his back rested against the other. Hyde had turned his gaze from the office’s ceiling to the door’s interrupting creaks, ready to rebuke unwanted company before he registered the brown skin and chubby cheeks of his visitor.

“Look what the wolf dragged in.” Mr. Hyde had smiled toothily, “How may I help you, dear Doctor Lanyon?”

“Is Henry around?” Robert inquired as he stepped towards the desk, taking in the scattered papers on the floor.

“I’m afraid not, the poor thing had a previous appointment to make up for so he left me in his stead.” Everything Mr. Hyde said seemed to be lecherous and laced with innuendos and this was no exception. Lanyon was almost positive he would never be able to decipher all of it.

With a sigh, the doctor looked at the man in his friend’s chair, noting the shag of blond the man wore seemed longer than the last time the two had spoken, “Did he leave any notion of when he would return?”

“‘Fraid not!” Hyde perked up and leaned in on himself, hands grabbing the arm rest his legs were currently thrown over, “You’re stuck with me til dawn, I’m sure.”

Robert tugged on the bottom of his waist coat with a sharp exhale through his nose, “Then I suppose I shall leave you to your post.” He nodded at the other man and made for the door.

“Why not stay?” Hyde offered to the older man’s back, “It’s properly dull here,” a dramatic flourish of an arm covering his eyes added for emphasis. Lanyon resisted the urge to roll his own eyes back towards the exit,  “and you’ve no place to be, correct?” The figure in the chair peeked out at him with a grin.

Lanyon turned and looked briefly at the door. The man’s ability to read him was uncanny, but the doctor knew he’d been caught. Hyde was right, though, he didn’t have anything better to do. He turned back to the blond and shrugged, “I suppose I can visit for a while,” he spoke begrudgingly before taking a seat in a chair across from Dr. Jekyll’s desk.

This led to a long and mostly one sided conversation between the pair before Hyde broached his proposal.

“Come out with me.” Green eyes sparkled as he sprung into a proper seating arrangement in the chair. Hyde’s feet fell to the floor with a heavy thud, the sound sending relief through Lanyon. The chair had wobbled more than once as the blond had spun his tales.

“Your life can’t possibly be that exciting with the _aristocracy_ ,” Hyde spoke the word with an upturned nose and haughty tone, “and this place is boring beyond measure.”

A sudden **_boom!_ **  and several crashing noises rattled from deep within the Society.

“Disregard that.” Hyde waved his hand with a frown.

“I’ll try.” Robert tried to conceal a smirk.

“So what do you say, Dr. Lanyon? Care for a night on the town with yours truly?” Mr. Hyde looked expectantly into the dark eyes before him.

“That’s a very kind offer, Mr. Hyde-” Lanyon started.

“Or are you too chicken to have some fun with me?” The waggle of the blond’s eyebrows was not lost on the doctor.

“And what exactly does that mean?” Robert bristled at the taunting, his unimpressed gaze made Hyde’s grin widen.

“Exactly as it sounds, Doctor. Will you accompany me on a night out or are you too afraid you’ll be under the table after a single drink?”

Lanyon’s eyes narrowed at the verbal hit to his ego and looked away. “I don’t know what effect being seen out with you may have on the Society.” Lanyon looked at the blond from the corner of his eyes with a small smile, “You are known to be quite a boisterous fellow, Mr. Hyde.”

“And I take great pride in that.” Hyde stood with a flourish of his ratty cloak, “Life is more entertaining at the bottom of a bottle than stuck in an office over paperwork.”

“I can’t argue with that.” Lanyon’s smile grew as he leaned back into his chair.

“C’mon.” Hyde whined, “I’m sure Henry will be thrilled to hear of our chummy night of social drinking.”

That startled a laugh out of Robert, “I doubt this is how he’d like us to get to know each other, but fine, i accept.” He leaned towards his companion with a conspiratory grin, “I’ll have you know it will take a lot to make me lose my faculties.”As the words left his mouth, Lanyon began to think those words may be a mistake.

“Is that a challenge, Dr. Lanyon?” Hyde leered and the feeling settled further inside the poor doctor.

~~~

 

Several hours later, Robert Lanyon was _positive_ he had made a mistake. The world felt loose and like it was spinning as he sat precariously on his bar stool. Hyde was much too loud as he called for another round of drinks for the seedy pub the duo had stumbled into. Looking at the noisy sir, you would not be able to guess that this was the fifth establishment to be graced by their presence that evening. Looking at Dr. Lanyon, however, made this very apparent.

“Eddie, what time is it?” the man rolled his head to face Hyde, not lifting it from the bar top. He didn’t recall when he had started referring to Mr. Hyde as ‘Eddie’: maybe it was around the sixth shot at the second bar they’d been to, or when Hyde poked at him for choosing wine at the third pub, or maybe it was when he was teased for getting his ‘pecker’ wet as Edward was simultaneously tapping his own hooked nose while Robert’s was in his own glass of ale. Any of these events could have been when the switch happened, he just didn’t know which it had been.

What he did know was that he was tired, outmatched, drunk beyond measure, and that Edward Hyde was a monster.

“Time for you to drink another shot!” the man in question said exuberantly, arm snaking under his companion’s to hoist him up, “Up you come, Doctor. We’ve got to be proper gentlemen, remember?” a hint of a slur was all that gave away the fact that the younger man had drank. God, Robert hated him.

“A doctor you say!”

A voiced called from the the pair’s right and Lanyon lolled his head towards the sound. Down the bridge of his long nose, he watched a woman with impressive bosoms walked towards them, a grin as wide as the cut of her neckline across her face. Her narrow hips swayed to the best of their ability as she saddled up beside the brunet.

“So I’ve got this rash that started on m-” Her East End accent shown as she spoke, but Lanyon was a bit more preoccupied with her lack of teeth.

He bared his own at her and ran his tongue over them, counting to himself how many he had and doing the simple when sober but difficult when intoxicated math to figure out she was missing five teeth and two molars.

“How come you don’t have your teeth?” he rubbed his own with an index finger and shakily pointed it at her, “Don’t answer that.” he slurred, his alcohol laden brain telling him too late that that wasn’t a proper question to ask a stranger.

“Well I say!” the women said accosted, her breasts jiggling above her blue dress as she bounced with indignation, “That’s incredibly rude.”

“What’s rude is trying to solicit my help after hours!” Lanyon cried, the world catching up with him and he straightened up abruptly. He held up a finger at her while he wobbled before righting himself, “My hours are 8-5, please make a house call in the morning,” he couldn’t even understand his own words at this point but continued blathering on, “if you need to work around your whoring I can be flexible, but right now I am too drunk and you are too loud for an appointment.”

Robert fell back into Hyde as the other man cackled. The woman huffed at the lot of them and stomped off with curses flying from her tongue.

“You didn’t even give her your name, Lanyon, how do you expect to receive her as a patient?” Edward smirked down at the man who had fallen into his lap.

“She couldn’t afford me anyway.” the doctor replied with a roll of his eyes before his blurry gaze fell back on his companion, “Has your hair always been made of gold?”

“What?” Hyde smirked incredulously as he downed his and Lanyon’s drinks.

“You said that was for me!” Lanyon lifted a wobbly hand out to grab the glass but it fell back into Hyde’s lap halfway through it’s mission.

“I guess you weren’t quick enough, old man.” Hyde grinned again as Robert looked at him through his eyelashes, “And you call yourself a gentlemen, pssshh!” The blond laughed as the doctor began to more outwardly pout.

“I’m not old!” Lanyon shot up suddenly, and grabbed onto the bar for stability as he rocked in a circle, stomach very queasy from the movement, “And I am a gentleman!”

“So says the throw up on your lapels.” Hyde called the bartender with a wave of his hand.

“What?!” As Robert smacked at his chest to get rid of the aforementioned sick, Hyde tipped their tender and told him to place the rest of it on his tab.

“Come on, Lanyon, it’s time to go home.”

Robert looked up with a frown, “But I don’t want to!” he whined.

“Were you not the one just asking about the time?” Hyde rose an eyebrow at the man while placing his hat back onto his head, “It’s passed your bedtime, Doctor, and Henry would be much upset if I returned his beloved friend after the sunrise.”

“Well, if he cared so much he should BE HERE!” Robert threw himself onto the bar top and groaned at the impact, an ache forming at his diaphragm.

“Lanyon-” Hyde starts, the first signs of unease spreading across his face at the state of his companion.

“Not that you are not good company, Mr. Hyde,” a sniffle could be heard from beneath crossed arms, the brunet’s head resting on the wood, “but,” he turned his face finally to look at the man beside him, “where is Henry?”

“Oh no.” Edward said under his breath, eye looked diagonally to the legs of the stool to his left. He wasn’t nearly drunk enough for this.“Robert-”

“I miss him terribly.” Another sniff sounded as Lanyon kept lying, now staring down the bar towards the wall, his left arm sliding off the bar face to hang limply by his side, “I haven’t seen Jekyll in a week’s time and I’m worried about the man.” Wet eyes flicked back to Hyde, “He doesn’t take care of himself the way he should and he never shows when he’s upset and-” a hiccup broke through the dialogue and Lanyon looked down, surprised by the motion his body made without his consent.

“Robert,” Hyde started again, awkwardly moving closer to the man and touching his shoulder gently, “I think it’s time we leave.” The blond pulled the brunet into a sitting position and took his weight as he forced them to walk towards the exit.

“I want him to take care of himself, you see,” Lanyon slurred and prattled on as his clumsy feet propelled him forward, “he’s my dearest friend and he means so much to myself and others, he deserves it.” A sad hiccup punctuated his sentence and he frowned again through his tears.

“Why don’t you tell him that when we get you back to the Society?” Mr. Hyde jostled the taller man over his shoulder to get a better hold on him. The pair stumbled a bit as the whiskey finally hit Hyde’s legs. “I’m sure he’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter.”

“And he will hear them!” Lanyon suddenly pushed away from the blond with a raised finger, “I’m the only one who sees it, I’m the only one who can tell him!!” he spoke with conviction.

“I’m sure you’re right.”

Robert stopped and blinked at Mr. Hyde.

“What?”

The lanky man cocked his head and peered at the other man with a confused look on his face, “Who are you?”

“What?” Hyde looked at him stupidly, his own drunkenness extending the ‘ah’ in the word.

“Who are you to Henry?” Lanyon’s tone could almost be mistaken for sobriety, “Where did you meet him?”

“It’s uh-” Hyde looked away shyly, his face flushing from the alcohol and discomfort, a certain voice in his mind scrambling for him to come up with something, “We met, uh-”

The doctor stumbled into Edward, hands searching the other before gently cupping his face with an intense gaze into forest green, “When did you become more important than me?” Lanyon’s voice was barely a whisper but it seemed to echo in the smaller man’s ears.

Hyde watched at the other’s eyes filled once more with tears, “Oh, you poor dolt.” he spoke and lifted his calloused hand to the smoother on his right cheek.

Robert blinked and seemed to register their position because the next instant he pulled away from the smaller man and pulled the bottom of his waist coat. He blinked a few more times and looked away to get his composure. “I’m sorry, Mr. Hyde, I seem to be a bit drunk.”

Hyde stared at the doctor before he burst into laughter. “Just a bit, was it?” he laughed harshly again before shaking his head, “The Society’s that way.” he gestured down an alley to their right.

The men walked in silence for several minutes before a curse sounded over the night owl’s shoulder. He turned around to find Lanyon glaring at the cobblestone which sent another laughing fit through him.

“Hey now! That’s not-” Lanyon’s eyes widened, “CAT!” he cried and drunkenly surged towards a tabby standing by a gutter. The creature hissed at his approach and fled down the alley, purple coat tails fluttering behind him as Robert continued to pursue the poor thing.

“Doctor, no!” Hyde yelled with a waver, his knees continuing to get weaker as his fun caught up with him, “We have to get back before dawn!”

“But it’s a cat!” was called back at him as Robert’s figure disappeared around the corner.

“Think of the Society, you twat!” Hyde started after the man with disbelieving smile on his face. He’d meant to be a bad influence on the proper gentleman, but, apparently, his influence wasn’t needed for the man to do senseless things.

Edward turned the corner to find a dead end. Lanyon stood, shoulders slumped in defeat, as he stared up to the back wall of the alleyway, the tabby crouched on the rock and licking its front paw.

“Satisfied, you idiot?” Hyde dusted off his cloak with a exhale.

“No,” Lanyon replied pitifully, “I didn’t get to pet him.”

“You’re too old for this shit, Lanyon, come on.” Hyde shook his head, “The sun’s about to set and we’re almost back, let’s go before your wards see you with mud caked on your ankles.”

The doctor looked down at his pants and sighed, “These were my good slacks too.” He looked back at Hyde with a pathetic look on his face, “I need some water, my mouth tastes like death.”

“You can thank the absinthe for that!” the blond responded cheerily as they exited towards the final stretch of their journey.

“I regret so many things.” Lanyon spoke as he struggle to pull his key from his pocket.

“Here, use mine,” Hyde spun the skeleton key around his index finger for a moment before clumsily handing it out.

Lanyon squinted at the blond, “Where did you get this?” he asked with a glower.

“Uh, borrowed it?”

“Make sure you give it back.” was the response he got when the door swung open into an abnormally quiet building. The sky’s colors were fading to purple and orange through the windows, sounding that the dawn was fast approaching.

When they came to Dr. Jekyll’s office, Lanyon was unsurprised to find that Mr. Hyde had the key to this door as well, though was set off kilter by the door being unlocked in the first place.

“I’m sure the poor doctor won’t mind if we make way to his bed, he does have a habit of calling on Rachel about food prep at this time of morning.” Hyde sounded with a yawn. The brunet didn’t bother calling the man out on his lie, for he knew far too well that Jekyll was the hardest to wake in the mornings. He was too exhausted to argue at this moment.

The pair stopped and sized each other up as they both went to collapse on the full sized bed, neither having the strength to disrobe. Lanyon’s last thoughts before succumbing to sleep were of him begrudgingly admitting he’d had fun that evening and how he would make up to Henry the use of his private bed.

After he talked to him about properly managing his life, of course

**Author's Note:**

> petition to bring Lanyon back to the comic pls and thnx
> 
> A friend and I had been fucking around talking about these two interacting so I decided to write is cause I'm HORRIBLY GAY  
> any critique is appreciated!!
> 
> You can find me at jvdal.tumblr.com !


End file.
